Carrier for dairy products



A. D. MALLIARIS CARRIER FOR DAIRY PRODUCTS Filed Aug. 26, 1952 I y m Pall F/G. J

- INVENTOR. ANDREW D. MALL/AR/S A TOPNEYS Dec. 21, 1954 United States Patent CARRHER FOR DAIRY PRODUCTS Andrew D. Malliaris, East Haven, Conn.

Application August 26, 1352, Serial No. 306,470

2 Claims. (Cl. 220-117) This invention relates to portable carrying devices, and pertains more particularly to a carrier particularly adapted for transporting dairy products between a delivery truck and the customers home.

One important object of the invention is to provide a carrier which is suitable for carrying both bottled and packaged dairy products.

Another object of the invention is to provide a carrier of the foregoing type which provides ready access to the goods carried therein, but which will fully protect the goods against breakage or mutilation during transportation.

A further object of the invention is to provide a carrier which affords complete visibility of the contents being carried, thereby facilitating the selection of products for delivery.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a carrier of this type which is rugged and yet lightweight and inexpensive to manufacture.

Other objects will be in part obvious, and in part pointed out more in detail hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereafter set forth and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the carrier in actual use;

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken in the direction of line 22 of Figure l; and,

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken in the direction of line 3-3 of Figure 2.

Referring in detail to the drawing, the carrier has been designated generally by the reference numeral 10. The carrier comprises first, second and third rectangular loops bearing the respective numerals 12, 14, and 16, these loops being constructed of light-weight rod or wire stock and arranged in a spaced vertical array one above the other. A set of longitudinally spaced U-shaped wire elements 18 also forms a part of the carrier, these elements 18 including horizontal portions 20 and vertical leg or stud portions 22. Further included in the carrier is a set of laterally spaced L-shaped wire elements 24 having horizontal portions 26 and vertical stud portions 28. The elements 18 and 24 are suitably secured to the first rectangular loop 12 as by soldering, and the horizontal portions 20 and 26, which may be similarly soldered at their points of intersection, form a base labelled 36. This base 30 forms a support for various types of packaged dairy products 32, such as butter and eggs, which are shown in phantom outline. Inasmuch as the stud portions 22 and 28 are distributed about only three sides of the base 30, the fourth side, better termed, one end, is left open for the facile placement of the goods 32 upon said base.

A set of longitudinally spaced U-shaped wire elements 34 provided with horizontal portions 36 and vertical stud portions 38 are superimposed above the base 30, the stud portions 38 being secured as by soldering to both the second and third rectangular loops 14 and 16. Another set of U-shaped wire elements 40 having horizontal portions 42 and vertical portions 44 are laterally spaced, and the stud portions 44 are connected to both the rectangular loops 14 and 16. The horizontal portions 36 and 42 intersect with each other to form a platform which has been given the reference numeral 46 and upon which may be supported bottled dairy products such as milk and cream, only one bottle 48 being shown in phantom outline. Since the packaged products 32 are to rest on the base 30, it will be understood that the platform 46 should be spaced above the base 30 sufficiently to obviate any possible interference with the tallest packaged products which might be carried on said base 30.

A longitudinal wire element 50 extends centrally lengthwise relative to each of the rectangular loops 14 and 16, such elements having their ends secured to said respective loop elements, as in the preceding manner. Extending transversely relative to the wire elements 50 and the loops 14 and 16 is a series of lateral wire elements 52, the elements 50 and 52 cooperatively forming upper and lower grids 54 and 55 through which the various bottled products 48 may be inserted. Obviously, the elements 50 and 52 are arranged one above the other but in a staggered relationship with respect to the crisscrossing horizontal portions 36 and 42, these latter portions, as hereinbefore mentioned, forming the platform 46 which supports the bottled products 48 in the carrier while the elements 50 and 52 serve as partitions or separating guides therefor.

A diverging bridging element 56 has its extremities secured to the ends of the upper rectangular loop 16. A pair of inverted U-shaped elements 58 is secured to the bridging element 56 and is also anchored to selected transverse elements 52 and horizontal portions 36, the elements 56 forming a framework for a wire skeleton element 60 anchored to the elements 56 and which has secured thereto a semi-cylindrical handle grip 62, the handle grip 62 providing the means by which the carrier may be lifted and transported.

In conclusion, it will be apparent that the invention envisages a very light-weight carrier which is particularly suited for use by milkmen in transporting dairy products from the delivery truck to the customers home. The utility of the above described carrier is especially enhanced inasmuch as the carrier can be employed for transporting both bottled and packaged dairy goods.

Still further, it will be appreciated that the carrying device 10 may be simply and economically fabricated from low cost wire stock which stock can be readily welded or soldered together at the various points of juncture to provide a unitary structure having very durable characteristics.

Further, little likelihood of any packaged products falling off the base 30 exists inasmuch as the open end of the carrier may be carried at a slightly elevated or tilted position, thereby causing the packages to move, if at all, rearwardly against the stud portions 28 rather than through the open or entrance end.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the language used in the following claims is intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

I claim:

1. A portable carrier for dairy products comprising first, second and third rectangular wire loops arranged in horizontal planes one above the other, a first set of U-shaped wire elements, longitudinally spaced, having horizontal and vertical portions, the vertical portions forming upright studs secured along two opposite sides of said three wire loops, a set of laterally spaced L-shaped wire elements having horizontal and vertical leg portions, said vertical leg portions forming upright studs at only one end of said wire loops thereby providing access at the other end of said first loop for the introduction of packaged dairy products onto a shelf provided by the in tersecting horizontal portions of said U-shaped and L- shaped wire elements, a second set of U-shaped elements, longitudinally spaced, having horizontal and vertical portions, the vertical portions forming upright studs secured 'to said second and-third loop elements, a third set of U-shaped wire elements, laterally spaced, having horizontal and vertical portions, the vertical portions forming upright studs also secured to said second and third loop elements, said horizontal portions of said second and 'third setsof U-shaped elements being disposed in a plane beneath the plane of said-second loop and above the plane of said-first loop, said last mentioned horizontal portions furnishing support for bottleddairy products, a series of longitudinal and lateral wire elements in staggered superimposed relation with said last mentioned horizontal portions and secured-to said second and third loop elements in such spaced relation as to permit entry of said bottled products onto said support therefor, and a handle including a bridging wire element fixed to opposite ends of said third loop and extending parallel to said L-shaped 'ing upright studs secured along two opposite sides of said .three wire loops, a set of laterally spaced L-shaped'wire elements having horizontal and vertical leg portions, said vertical leg portions forming upright studs at only one end of-said wire loops'thereby providing access at the other end of said first loop for the introduction of pack- 30 aged dairy products onto the intersecting horizontal portions of said U-shaped and L-shaped wire elements, a second set of U-shaped elements,longitudinally spaced,

having horizontal and vertical portions, the vertical portions forming upright 'studs secured to said second and third loop elements, a third set of U-shaped wire elements, laterally spaced, having horizontal and vertical portions, the vertical portions forming upright studs also secured to said second and third loop elements, said horizontal portions of said second and third sets of U- shaped elements being disposed in a plane beneath the plane of said second loop and above the plane of said first loop, said last mentioned horizontal portions furnishing support for bottled dairy products, a series of longitudinal and lateral wire elements in staggered superimposed relation with said last mentioned horizontal portions and secured to said second and third loop elements in such spaced relation asto permit entry of said bottled products onto said support therefor, and a handle comprising a downwardly diverging bridging wire element connected to opposite ends of said third loop, a pair of inverted U-shaped wire-elements securedto said bridging wire element, to two of said lateral wire elemcntslwhich are secured to said second loop and to two of said lateral wire elements which are secured to said third'loop, and a semi-cylindrical elementtembracing the midportions of said pair of .U-shaped wire elements by which the entire carrier may be lifted.

References Cited in the file of thispatent UNITED'STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,559,695 Hatch Nov. 3, 1925 1,865,582 Nusbaum July5, 1932 1,939,504 Lee 'Dec. 12, 1933 

